Jeffrey Morgenthaler

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Man, there are few things out there more polarizing to people than creamy drinks. And it’s funny, you know, because I think it’s a pretty universal thing that our mouths just water at the sight of a creamy cocktail. Look at a properly made Ramos Gin Fizz. Or a White Russian. Or Egg Nog. How delicious do they look?

But then there’s this guilty feeling that I think kicks in for most people, where it’s like, “I can’t justify drinking something that contains a bunch of fucking cream.” And I get it, I totally do. Personally, I also try to save up those points and spend them during the holidays.

But there’s no getting around the delicious factor. So what about alternatives? I like almond milk in my coffee. I even make my own at home. But one creamy substitute that I can’t live without in my life is horchata. See the previous post for more on that. Anyway, as someone who has been making drinks for almost half of his life at this point, I had to try making something with horchata.

My partner in crime at Clyde Common is a gentleman named Benjamin Amberg. But we all call him (among other things), simply Banjo. Banjo and I have a great way of working on cocktails together. It’s very collaborative, and nobody gets too attached to an idea if a better one comes along. (I wrote more about this process for Playboy, check it out)

And so it happened that we started working on our new horchata cocktail. And, of course, we broke out all of the typical formulas that we’d both seen on menus before: aged rum and horchata; aged tequila and horchata; variations on a White Russian with horchata instead of cream. And none of them were working, and we were about to scrap the whole idea.

But then we had a thought: what if instead of a flabby, creamy drink, we did something more bright and citrusy? We certainly hadn’t seen that done before, and we know rice milk isn’t going to curdle the way cream would. And suddenly, within minutes, we’d assembled what is quickly becoming one of our most popular new drinks, the Southbound Suarez. Named after our favorite song on our least favorite Led Zeppelin album, I like to think the same stands of a reminder of just how tough this one was to create.

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A side project, an experiment or just a simple curiosity that turned into a delicious phenomenon that we're still serving to much delight at our bar, barrel aged cocktails explore the gentle manipulation of a drink's flavors over time. This post details the inspiration, the history and the methods behind my barrel aged cocktails.

My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.

Turned off by the glop you find in the grocery store, and unable to endure another long egg and cream whipping session, I set out to build an egg nog recipe from the ground up that retained the character of the orginal formula, was easy to make in a few minutes at home or at the bar, and tasted absolutely delicious. See if you agree with the result.

One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.

The problem with living in Oregon is the absence of little wooden shacks by the sea that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I've been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to a little fishing boat on the ocean as I sip a Dark and Stormy made with fresh, house-made ginger beer.

It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.

Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning "little blood") is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.

The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.

The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!

I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.

There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.

About Me

My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the bar manager at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.

I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. I started tending bar while getting my degree in Interior Architecture, and slowly I came to the conclusion that bartending was what I really loved, and that I might as well drop everything and focus on being a professional bartender. Over the years I have strived, both behind the bar and with this website, to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.

The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.

Comments

13 Responses to “New Imbibe Video: Citrus Garnishes”

Jeff! Whenever I try to flame an orange, all I get is two pieces of zest where I originally had one, because I broke the piece I was trying to flame. How do you get the oils to come out so nicely? Do you have a special technique?

Really digging these videos – great to see your mug on a regular basis :)

Couple of questions for you:
1. You get a lot of pith with those channel knives. A little bit is nice to help the twist hold its shape, but the knife I have looks like yours. It leaves a good 1/8-1/4″ of pith. Good / bad?
2. You drop the peels into the drink after expelling the oils. I’ve heard lots of back and forth on this. Some say it adds bitterness to the drink (and they are most finicky and wrong), but I don’t like how it gets in the way of sipping sometimes. Any reason you do this rather than just chucking them? A twist can look nice, but a floating circle of lemon or orange is less exciting.
3. Nice, passionate effort on rubbing the rim of the glass.

1. Yeah, you get a lot of white pith with those channel knives. But while most people will tell you to avoid the pith, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I don’t think it matters a whole hell of a lot as the bitterness is only going to find its way into your mouth if you eat the twist. My answer: don’t eat the garnish.

2. Again, I haven’t had too many issues with bitterness on those wide zests (Hey, you: don’t eat that) and I find that they don’t really get in the way too much with a wide-mouthed cocktail glass like the one I use in the video. My exception here is when drinking a Sazerac, as I think the small rocks glass that drink should be served in will shove the twist into your face every time you take a sip. I discard the twist on that particular drink for that reason.

Weird, my thoughts were exactly like Rick’s: 1) pith issue, and 2) wow, there’s something really sexy about the oil around the rim. Of course, I was going to keep #2 to myself (and all obvious jokes), but since someone else mentioned it…

Ahem. Regarding #1, I think the pith would actually *add* something to the drink profile, just a little hint of bitter in a good way.

Love these videos, Jeff, thanks!

11 May 2009 at 2:22 AM 8. ND

The zest can be delicious to eat, weird as it sounds—especially if you’ve got nice organic fruit. The zest at the end of an Old Fashioned is particularly good; it almost tastes like a candied orange peel for grown-ups (more so if you’ve flamed it).

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